Rhyme of Death
by Puralika Mohanty
Summary: AU: After the titans, humanity's strongest soldier has his hands full with Macavity, large-scale migrant killing and Chryseis, who has been offered a mandatory choice of availing herself to military's hospitality. And with the strange suspect, damned clues, Levi finds himself in a peculiar set of circumstances.
1. Rock-a-bye a baby

Chapter 1: Rock-a-bye baby

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop  
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock  
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall  
And down willcome baby, cradle and all

* * *

The normal is the good smile in a child's eye. It is also the dead stare in a million adults. Normalcy sustains. Abnormality kills. It was this very abnormality that appeared in the first few seconds of a normal video that played on television sets across the whole country. It was the hint of deviant behavior of a helicopter that arrested the attention of the entire nation, it was the launch of its first missile that had made the districts gasp and cry all at once. It was the sight of the broken wing of an airplane that had widened a million pairs of eyes. It was the fact that the plane was nose diving into the ground that many people had begun to pray. It was the abject horror of watching the plane crash that lead to a mass breakdown. And when the chopper had gracefully completed its terror, not many could watch the second explosion that occurred midair. The wisp of the smoked letters lingered in the skies and faded. But not before humanity's strongest soldier had noted them with disgust.

"Macavity." Levi muttered. His blue eyes became hard as he recalled the body count in the unfortunate accident – one hundred twenty-seven.

Levi looked at the clock – 2:03 pm. It had been exactly thirty-two hours since the demise had happened. He knew the crash would come to light but to think that Macavity would be as crude as to film the incident in all its glory and send it to the new stations. Levi pressed the mute button and shut off the annoying background tune of Rock-a-bye baby that accompanied the video. He glanced at the papers arranged on his desk.

He had, at first, assumed that Macavity was the usual everyday psychopath with a thing for nursery rhymes. He had been wrong of course. But in even in his wildest suppositions, Levi would not have assumed that last week's three murders would escalate into such terror propaganda.

"The bastard."

Levi leafed through the reports. He had read, re-read, briefed, noted, added new developments and mind mapped the reports. And the only clue he had was – Macavity had something against migrants.

"Typical." Levi said to himself. He wondered what the public reaction would be to the news and realized that they would not be pleased with least, so he left the subject altogether. He proceeded to put the reports back into his drawer.

That done, Levi turned on the sound and skimmed through channels when a video clip of the blond haired defense minister caught his eye. He read the headline: All incoming and outgoing transport banned, sine die.

"Smooth." The captain turned off the TV

 _Ring._

Within the first ring, Levi picked up the phone and listened for a while when suddenly, he started out of his seat. "THERE'S A SHIP OUT THERE? CARRYING MIGRANTS?"

"Yes." It was the defense minister – Erwin on the other side.

So much for unnecessary causalities. Levi thought and sat down.

"What do we do?"

"Try and bring them back." He doubted if it was even worth the effort. If Macavity had detected the ship Bankur then even the fastest boat and best soldiers would not be able to save it. And that was assuming the ship was not blasted already.

"When would the rescue team be leaving then?"

Levi picked up his smartphone, unlocked it and pressed the virtual red button.

"Now." He cut off the call and rose from his chair. He had to go to the harbor. His team would be waiting.

Meanwhile, the said ship was out by miles, having departed two days ago and everybody was enjoying the pilgrimage so far, except for a little boy who leaned across a railing, solitarily. He heard a faint sickening scream that pitched over the sea. The boy shuddered.

"Don't worry, laddie." A sailor patted his back. "We'll be around the land anytime soon."

The boy took no notice of him and simply shook his head. "We won't be around soon."

Children recognize the cry of banshees when they hear it.

* * *

Author's note:

So, I have been writing this Attack on titan fanfic and have been unable to write the other Harry potter fanfic.

And by the way, let's negotiate. You see, I absolutely detest using bad language which Levi is so comfortable with and so I will use mild language with bastard being the highest degree of it. Will you accept this compromise?

Did you like this chapter? Do you think Levi is in-character or out of character and in case of anomalies please review or PM me. Thanks!


	2. Row, row, row your boat

Chapter 2: Row, row, row your Boat

Before you begin, only one thing. Thanks to Forschia for her invaluable advice and the name of my OC is Chryseis, pronounced as crisis.

* * *

 _Row, row, row your boat,_

 _Gently down the stream._

 _Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,_

 _Life is but a dream._

* * *

If you consider an individual by himself, then you see of man just as much as you see of moon. Only man with man provides a full image. And Chryseis was no exception. If one were to see her as an individual, she would come across as a loony, complacent kind of girl. But if you were to see her with Wyse, she revealed many undiscovered facets of her life. One of her many hidden talents was to sing even the simplest of rhymes, out of tune. Yes, even nursery rhymes. And it was this astonishing ability that she displayed in front of her boon companion, as he rowed the steam boat across the vast sea. She had been making an ass of herself for quite a while when finally Wyse took mercy at his own ears and asked her to stop.

At his point, she remarked – "There's no poetry about you, Wyse."

"I am glad there isn't. For one thing, I wouldn't like to have it sung that way."

The young man said and stopped rowing momentarily. He huffed, wiped his brow, complained about the idiocy of the girl of not having the sense to even read the map correctly and then began rowing again. In the past few hours, (i.e. ever since the rowing began.) Wyse had complained every once in a while but had never given way to violent language.

Chryseis kept silent for most of the time next. Except when she was overcome with and murmured to herself, "What is this life, if full of care, we don't have time to stand and stare."(Wyse forbid her to sing anymore. Precisely, he said that if she should sing she would be chucked out of the boat.) And so, it was thirty minutes of such silence, murmuring, and rowing that got this duo to the harbor. They had been expected two days ago. Nevertheless, they were still expected. (Chryseis noted this when she saw a young blond boy waving at them from beyond the barricades.)

"I seem to be out of luck today." Wyse said suddenly and Chryseis looked at the direction in which his head was turned.

"An Ebola outbreak?"

"Dunno. Whatever it is, we have to go through all those checks." He said and handed the girl the last of their luggage from the boat.

Both of them walked to the series of counters and then got their luggage checked. After ascertaining that they were not carrying anything unusual, the security let them pass to the next counter. Here they were patted down and a metal detector run over them. Chryseis had a little problem when the detector bleeped near the pocket of her hideously bright waistcoat and she had to produce the golden pocket watch. It was returned to her after it was deemed harmless. However, Wyse faced a severe problem when the detector sounded on his heavily gloved hands.

Before he could offer any explanation, Chryseis said, "The dude's got prosthetic hands. Got chopped off in an accident you see." The guards still took off the gloves, saw the truth in the claim, apologized and let them go.

"Must you always spout rubbish?" Wyse said when they neared the barrier and were out of earshot of anybody.

"They WERE chopped off, though."

Wyse, sensing more nonsense, ended the discussion and both of them crossed the barrier. As soon as they were out of it, they were greeted by the blond boy.

"Armin! Have you been well?" Chryseis shook hands with the boy and then introduced Wyse. "This is my companion, Wyse Aztec. He rowed us from the middle of the ocean."

Armin shook hands with the tall man in blue and then said, "I am afraid I was under the impression that you were coming here by a steamboat."

"You were under the correct impression," Wyse said. "Only she read the map wrong and we ran out of fuel."

"Yes, it was Wyse foresight that saved us. He brought the oars." Chryseis collected her bags and walked to the parking lot. "At first, I thought it was silly to bring oars in a steamboat, but Wyse said to me – with me around crisis is never far off." Then she gave a hearty laugh at her own poor joke and Armin smiled politely as he opened the trunk of his black car. Wyse helped Armin put the luggage in the trunk.

"So, what id all this security about?" Chryseis asked when they were all inside the car and a good way off from the harbor.

"Frankly, I don't know much of the matter myself." Armin said and examined the read mirror. "But, the government has banned all incoming and outgoing transport."

"How long ago was that?" came Wyse's voice from the back seat.

"Six hours probably." He turned around the corner. "The outgoing transport was stopped immediately and all the ships in the radius of four nautical miles were to come in or called back."

"Weren't we lucky to be in that zone, Wyse?" Chryseis peeped back and smiled at him.

"Why did they do that?" Wyse was always a reasonable person.

"I reckon it's something to do with the last night migrant airplane crash." Armin stopped the car.

"Surely, that can't be a reason for a ban." Chryseis freed herself from the seat belts.

"It is." The trio came out of the car and took out the luggage. "Something to do with mass migrant killing by Macavity."

"Who is Macavity?" Chryseis was already on the porch with the luggage.

"Rather what is Macavity?" Armin said and opened the door to his house. "People says he's a psychopathic killer. But I think it's an organization with a hatred for migrants. "

"Your theory sounds more sensible." Wyse carried the luggage inside with the help of Armin.

"Let's not talk about such unpleasant things now." The girl said and hung her knit beret beanie. Because her hat was so bright (being orange and green stripped) it looked more outlandish on the coat rack than her head. She looked around the cozy hallway. "Nice."

"Thank you." Armin said and proceeded to lead the way and show them their room.

The room was rather large and extremely clean. Chryseis stepped in to find the bed already made. She walked over to the window as Wyse and Armin brought in the luggage. The girl opened it and saw that the plants on the verandah were watered. "As expected of a tribunal judge." She said to herself as caressed the edge of an Aloe Vera leaf.

"I will set the dinner, then" Armin turned to leave. "Please rest yourselves."

"We will," Chryseis said. "Thank you for having us."

"It's all my pleasure." And Armin exited the room and left the duo to themselves.

"Good boy, that." Wyse remarked as he put the suitcase on the bed.

"Indeed." The girl agreed and brought out the pen and notepad. She looked at Wyse while he unpacked. "Why don't you go and get ready for dinner while I write down the names? They have been swimming around my head for quite some time now."

"Too many?" he pulled out his towel.

"Plenty. And one of them is quite ghastly." She pulled the chair to the window.

"I assume nothing can be done now?" Wyse unpinned his mustached smiley from his short plain indigo kaftan to reveal a black neck-length shirt.

"Unfortunately, yes." Chryseis swung her legs from beneath her and put her feet on the window sill. Wyse was in the bathroom when her mauve eyes darkened. She stared at the blank paper and sighed. "It is too late now."

* * *

Author's note –

So here is the appearance of my OCs. I made Armin a tribunal judge because according to me, he never was military material. Oh well, thanks to Forschia, I think I will simply keep Levi's style of speaking. But please don't expect modern swear words.

Anyway, what do you think? Do you feel anything mysterious is going to happen? And if you don't mind may I know your opinion of Macavity? If you feel something is off, please inform me.

And just in case you didn't know what a kaftan is. Kaftan is a lightweight garment with Persian roots. It is loose with flowing sleeves. It looks more or less like the ones that patients wear in hospitals. Only it is around knee length Wyse's is waist length. If you still don't get it Google Akilarup deviantArt and on my homepage you will get the doodle sheet of Wyse.

Happy Mahalaya! (It is a Hindu festival.)


	3. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater

Chapter 3: Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,

Had a wife and couldn't keep her;

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well

* * *

The fact that Artlert's guests liked to be fashionably late was entirely fiction. They were, on the contrary, rather punctual. Save for their delayed arrival into the exciting walled country. Armin, however, was not surprised. He knew them to be punctual and prepared himself accordingly. And it was only his knowledge of their habits (that he had acquired due to his three-month stay with them during his training as an apprentice judge in Aidin.) that made him ask Chryseis if she would like to watch the TV during their dinner.

To this she replied, "Yes, thank you." And took the remote. She surfed through the news channel before stopping at one that flashed the headline – "Macavity – the macabre devil." The three pairs of eyes watched the electric blue haired anchor as he spoke – "Welcome to Attack on the news and I am your reporter – Ernald Warmheart." Chryseis closely surveyed the Youngman on screen. He had his left eye well hidden beneath the long bands. She noticed that his hair was tied into a tiny ponytail at the back.

"Nice style." Wyse commented and then proceeded to help Armin, who was serving the dishes.

"Today, we will have a recap of the Macavity mystery."

"That'd be helpful." Chryseis stuffed a piece of potato into her mouth and continued to stare at the screen.

"It all began on 22nd September, Monday. The body of Camille Corringham was found inside a pumpkin in her own backyard."

"Yeesh. Must be one hell of a pumpkin." The picture of a beautiful pumpkin yard popped up beside the anchor.

"The body was so badly hacked that if the defense and welfare legion hadn't found the head in another pumpkin, nobody could have recognized the victim on the spot. The peculiar thing about this crime is not only its atrocity but also the rhyme that accompanied it." The image of a note on a misshapen pumpkin came up accompanied by a background song of - Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater. "The neighbors swear that there wasn't a sound of any such violence and they didn't see anybody come in the yard either." At this point, a blurred image of came up. It was a very faded, but one could still tell that it was a picture of hacked limbs placed in carved pumpkins.

And before the anchor could delve into the innumerable possibilities and details of the murder. Wyse switched off the TV. Chryseis looked at Wyse.

"I believe those are rather improper things to look at while eating dinner. They aren't going to help our digestion, you know. " Wyse said and began eating. Chryseis did the same and found that the images had indeed ruined his appetite

…

The dinner finished faste4r than anybody expected. It was either that everybody ate quicker than usual or that everybody ate less than usual. Armin agreed with the latter as he packed the leftovers and stuffed them in the fridge. He glanced at Chryseis and saw her cleaning the dishes. Her expression and tuneless humming suggested nothing of a person who ought to be upset after watching the news. The boy turned to look at Wyse and found him in a chair with his phone in his hand. As Armin speculated further, he heard Chryseis declare, "I'm done."

She came over to Wyse and wiped her hands on her skirt. (She never cared much for aprons.) Chryseis peeked over his shoulder and read. "Bodies charred to death in Macavity plane crash."

"Painful undoubtedly." Wyse said and skimmed through the article

"Did they find anything new from the black box?" "Not really."

"No survivors?"

"None."

"What happened to ship Bankur?" Armin asked this.

Wyse pulled up another article, skimmed through it and replied, "They saved it, alright."

"The passengers are safe in their houses then?"

"Yes."

"You ought to have some rest," Chryseis said suddenly.

"Me?"

"Aye."

"I will," Armin got up. "As soon as I've locked the doors."

"Of course," Chryseis followed Armin into the hallway. "Only close it after us."

"Pardon?" the boy watched her go to the door in front of him.

"Lock the door after we have gone out." He heard Wyse say and immediately stepped aside to let the tall man pass. He noticed he had pinned his drape and was carrying a radio with him. Perhaps he had gone to his room and came back. "We have got business to deal with."

"At nine in the night?"

"Rather inconvenient, isn't it?" the girl pulled on her orange and green striped waistcoat and took the radio from Wyse's hands. "Don't stay up."

"When will you be back?" he watched her put on her loud cap.

"Soon." Chryseis said and was out the house with Wyse.

Only she didn't realize that she won't be back. At least, not anytime soon.

* * *

Author's note:

Sorry for the late update. I had written this chapter, but it needed rewriting so it came late. And of course, I must also apologize for the little SnK troll there. And special thanks to forschia for her invaluable advice regarding the making and explaining of this chapter. I hope I haven't left any loose ends.

Oh! And I have renamed the scouting legion. And just in case you couldn't tell the same day from chapter – 1 is continuing.


	4. For the want of a nail

Chapter 4: For the want of a nail

 _For want of a nail the shoe was lost._

 _For want of a shoe the horse was lost._

 _For want of a horse the rider was lost._

 _For want of a rider the battle was lost._

 _For want of a battle the kingdom was lost._

 _And all for the want of a horseshoe nail._

* * *

The bent and broken moon hung silently in the battered and black sky. It wasn't night, It wasn't morning. It was simply dark when a troop entered a house in the cozy neighborhood. Upon entering the house the troop of three scattered. The captain walked up the stairs and straight onto the bedroom while the other members disappeared from the hallway.

The first thing that hit Levi when he stood in front of the bedroom door was a sickening smell of air freshener mingled with the smell of charred flesh, almost as though, there had been a poor attempt to disguise murder.

The captain had seen many ghastly things in life. It was his experience that taught him that the world had many wants of breaking men. However, what was in front of him was not like anything he had seen before. Levi gazed at the impaled corpse. He had felt disgust before, but never to the exaggerated height he felt today. Pinching his nose, the Ackerman neared the body and inspected its outstretched hands. He looked at the nails hammered into each phalange of the dead man's fingers and something about the hammering struck him as odd.

"No struggle." Came a comment. Levi noticed his comrade Hange Zoe curiously inspecting the other hand. "There was no struggle when the assaulter hammered these nails into him."

A sense of relief trickled into Levi's body. But the relief gave way to wonder. Humanity's greatest soldier pondered what kind of morbid fascination could the murder have to deface the corpse of a mere man to such an extent. He stepped back and tried to make sense of the picture.

"Not the prettiest picture, is it?" Hange said (almost cheerfully) as she thrust the camera into Levi's hands.

Levi glanced at the digital display of the gadget. He couldn't agree more. The photo showed a pale corpse with bold and black letters spelling MACAVITY charred into the chest. And the long pointed pole protruded out of his belly while intestines and guts dangled down the hips in a discomforting mess. Added to it, a piece of was nailed on the bashed in face. The captain looked up and watched Zoe extract the parchment delicately from the victim's face.

"For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost," She began to sing.

"Shut up, we don't need the rhyme to know that some blood thirsty shit (here Hange said , 'Macavity perhaps') has done this"

"So what do we do now?"

"Seal the place." Said Levi and walked out of the room.

Just as the captain descended the staircase, he felt his transmitter vibrate. He picked it up.

"Captain," a whisper came from the other end. "there's something in the backyard with a radio."

Levi moved towards the nearest window that opened out in the back. He tried to see the situation outside. He couldn't see much, but he did hear a faint sound of crying.

"What should I do?"

"Tranquilize it."

As soon as Levi completed his command, he heard the slight sound of a dart slicing the air and an almost inaudible "Ouch". The troop captain opened the window and jumped out. He walked to his cadet.

"What did you use?"

"Xylazine, sir."

"Strong?"

"Strong enough to knock off a stag in an instant.

Levi came closer to the source of crying and found the radio playing the mournful tune. Beside it lay a girl in a hideously bright vest and cap.

"Administer her Xylazine Hydrochloride. She will need medication. Round her up and put her in as a suspect."

"Yes, Captain."

Levi watched the young cadet pick up the girl and load her in the jeep. The Ackerman pulled on his gloves and carefully turned off the radio and joined his comrade (who was administering the injection) He pulled out a polythene bag from beneath the seat and put the device in it.

"A haul?" Hange Zoe asked as she opened the door of the jeep.

"Did you seal the place?"

"Of course." The brunette slid into the driver's seat. "So, is she Macavity?"

"Who knows?"Levi took up his seat beside the driver.

"A suspect then." Hange brought the engine to life.

"Neighbors don't hand around playing radio near a murder."

"She might be passing by." The cadet in the back piped up.

"Trespassing, of course." Levi dryly commented. "Take her picture and send it to the data team. I want her details within two hours."

"Yes, sir."

"What was she playing on the radio?" Hange asked.

"Sound of a person crying." Levi answered, his eyes on the road.

"I don't know if she is plainly sadistic or a banshee."

* * *

 **Author's note –**

 **I cannot believe I last updated this story almost an year ago. I am so sorry for that. I was actually debating whether or not to change the first chapter, finally I decided against it. LOL. I am sorry about the delay of course. Not like anybody reads this.**


End file.
